• by April 16, 2019

First Lady Melania Trump’s office team is criticizing Anna Wintour, editor in chief of Vogue, for suggesting in an interview last week that she wasn’t interested in having Trump in the magazine.

That would make a major departure for Vogue, which reliably provided fawning coverage of past First Ladies that goes back decades. First Ladies Laura and Barbara Bush appeared inside, as did Nancy Reagan, when they were in the White House, but not on the cover.

Former First Lady and best-selling author Michelle Obama appeared on the cover of Vogue in March 2009, April 2013 and December 2016.

In a interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour published on Tuesday, Wintour discussed topics such as Vogue’s political coverage, which has focused mostly on Democratic women, such as former First Lady and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Wintour acknowledged that many of the political figures are Democrats.

“I think it's very, very important to have a point of view, and we profile women in the magazine that we believe in,” she said. “After the defeat of Secretary Clinton in 2016 (in particular), we believe that women should have a leadership position and we intend to support them.”

Referring to Obama and Sen. Kamala Harris, a Democratic candidate for the presidency, Wintour said: “These are women we feel are icons and inspiring to women from a global perspective.”

Somehow, Melania, who was born in total obscurity in a small town in Yugoslavia -- one of the most oppressive countries in the former Eastern Bloc -- and who made a living as a successful fashion model, doesn’t qualify as an inspiration?

Melania's spokesperson said the First Lady has moved on, but I'll bet she'd appear in the magazine if asked. That won't happen.

"To be on the cover of Voguedoesn’t define Mrs. Trump, she’s been there, done that long before she was first lady," Melania's spokesperson Stephanie Grisham said last week. "This just further demonstrates how biased the fashion magazine industry is, and shows how insecure and small-minded Anna Wintour really is.”

In the interview with CNN, Wintour praised Michelle Obama for transforming the role of First Lady, being “fearless” in her tastes and for doing “wonders for fashion.”

I may not be completely schooled on all the latest currents in feminist thinking, but I seem to remember from Naomi Wolf’s book “The Beauty Myth” that Vogue was considered a key part of the fashion-media-industrial complex that established rigid standards for objectifying women and oppressing them.

As women entered the work force in one of the biggest demographic shifts in world history, judging them on their looks was a key part of belittling their achievements and defending the patriarchy, Wolf argued.

Wintour also praised Michelle Obama for being “fearless” in her tastes and for doing “wonders for fashion.”

I may not be completely schooled on all the latest currents in feminist thinking, but I seem to remember from Naomi Wolf’s book “The Beauty Myth” that Vogue magazine was considered a key part of the fashion-media complex that established rigid standards for objectifying women and oppressing them.

Women may have entered the work force in the one of the most significant demographic shifts in world history, but judging them on their looks never went out of style when defending the patriarchy was a key priority, Wolf argued.

Wintour just needs to come out and admit that when it comes to cover models, Republicans need not apply.